Throughout 1917. Plans were proposed for an aerial torpedo attack on the German High Seas Fleet at its base in Germany. To this end, a new aircraft was created for this mission.
The Sopwith T.1 Cuckoo was a British biplane torpedo bomber used by the Royal Naval Air Service. The first aircraft designed as a carrier-borne torpedo bomber (*though it could not land on an aircraft carrier), the Cuckoo entered service too late to see action in WWI and had a brief service life (1918-1923). A total of 300 T.1s were ordered, but only 90 aircraft had been delivered by the Armistice. A total of 232 aircraft had been completed by the time production ended in 1919. Initially powered by the Hispano-Suiza engines, production Sopwith Cuckoos were fitted with the similar 200hp Sunbeam Arab engine as the Hispano-Suiza were in high-demand for the Se.5 and elsewhere.
Sopwith Cuckoos continued to serve aboard aircraft carriers including HMS Furious and Eagle (*and others depending on source). They also served from land bases with Nos 185 and 210 Sqns until the latter was disbanded at Gosport in April 1923. Thereafter, the type was retired from service. Six Cuckoos were taken to Japan in 1921, as part of the British Air Mission to the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) where former Sopwith designer Herbert Smith used the type as the blueprint for the IJN's Navy Type 13.
Although the Sopwith Cuckoo enjoyed a relatively short career, it earned the distinction of being the first British landplane torpedo-carrier capable of operating from a flying-deck. It also played a significant part in the development of the Blackburn Aircraft Company which built the vast majority of Sopwith Cuckoos with the parent company building only the prototype.
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 28 ft 6 in (8.69 m)
Wingspan: 46 ft 9 in (14.25 m)
Height: 10 ft 8 in (3.25 m)
Wing area: 566 sq ft (52.6 m2)
Empty weight: 2,199 lb (997 kg)
Gross weight: 3,883 lb (1,761 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Sunbeam Arab V-8 water-cooled piston engine, 200 hp (150 kW)
Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller
Performance
Maximum speed: 105.5 mph (169.8 km/h, 91.7 kn)
Range: 335 mi (539 km, 291 nmi)
Service ceiling: 12,100 ft (3,700 m)
Armament: 1× 18 inch Mk.IX torpedo
Author
Topic: Request: Sopwith Cuckoo (Read 232 times)
